These lemon curd whole wheat pancakes are moist, thin and fluffy. Very easy to make and perfectly paired with fresh raspberries and pure maple syrup. There is no lemon curd in them. I’ve named them “lemon curd” pancakes, because of the cottage cheese used in the recipe.

Madeleines are an amazing little snack I used to have all the time as a child in Paris. They’re easy to make, incredibly tasty (seriously, try eating just one!), and in my opinion, carry an elegance that’s lost when serving most alternatives—for example, cupcakes.

Wow your dinner guests with this easy Braised Lamb Chops with Cranberry-Harissa Chutney recipe! Perfectly flavored fall-off-the-bone tender perfection. If you don’t want to make the cranberry chutney, you can just use the wine-lemon braising liquid as a gravy. Delicious!

These lemon curd whole wheat pancakes are moist, thin and fluffy. Very easy to make and perfectly paired with fresh raspberries and pure maple syrup. There is no lemon curd in them. I’ve named them “lemon curd” pancakes, because of the cottage cheese used in the recipe.

Madeleines are an amazing little snack I used to have all the time as a child in Paris. They’re easy to make, incredibly tasty (seriously, try eating just one!), and in my opinion, carry an elegance that’s lost when serving most alternatives—for example, cupcakes.

Wow your dinner guests with this easy Braised Lamb Chops with Cranberry-Harissa Chutney recipe! Perfectly flavored fall-off-the-bone tender perfection. If you don’t want to make the cranberry chutney, you can just use the wine-lemon braising liquid as a gravy. Delicious!

I love a lot of things about summer: vacations, swimming, picnics in the park, going to the farmers market, etc. But my absolute favorite thing has to be watermelon. I love watermelon. I eat it almost every day during the summer and I never get sick of it. There is nothing better than cutting into a big, juicy, red watermelon. It is the perfect cool-down treat.

To make the watermelon spritzers, you will need: watermelon, lemons, honey, seltzer water, and fresh mint or lemon balm. We used mint because we have a forest of mint growing in our backyard!

First, juice the lemons.

Next, cut up the watermelon into chunks.

Place the watermelon, lemon juice and honey into a food processor.

Process all of the ingredients together until smooth.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl, pressing the juice out of any seeds or pulp that remains in the strainer.

Pour the juice into a large pitcher and chill until you’re ready to drink.

Serve with a splash of seltzer water and mint or lemon balm.

Sip away!

If you are looking for an easy and refreshing summer drink, you have to try these. They are perfect for summer barbecues, pool parties, or everyday sipping. They are family-friendly, but if you want to get a little crazy, you can add a little alcohol to the mix. Adults only though!

I love serving thesen. They are simple to make and I love the bright color. Plus, our guests always ask for the recipe. They want in on the drink of the summer! Well, good thing the recipe is not a secret! Thanks Bev for sharing your fabulous drink recipe! Watermelon Spritzers are going to be flowing at our house all summer long. Make sure you visit Bev’s blog, Bev Cooks, for other fresh, simple, and tasty recipes. Cheers!

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Ingredients

2-½ poundsFresh Watermelon (seedless If You Can Find It), Rind Removed And Cut Into Cubes

3 wholeLemons (seedless If You Can Find It), Juiced

2 TablespoonsHoney

2 cupsChilled Seltzer Water (more Or Less)

6 sprigsLemon Balm Or Mint, For Garnish (optional!)

Preparation Instructions

Place the watermelon, lemon juice and honey into a food processor. Process until smooth.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl, pressing the juice out of any seeds or pulp that remains in the strainer.

Pour the juice into a large pitcher and chill until you’re ready to drink.

Serve with a splash of seltzer water and lemon balm or mint, if using.

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Maria and her husband Josh (who she affectionately refers to as her “dough boy”) blog at Two Peas and Their Pod. They’ve been featured on Saveur, Eatocracy, Gourmet Live, Glamour, and the Los Angeles Times, to name just a few. They’d also just recently added a little pea to their pod. We’re so glad to have them here!

I’m a sucker for anything with pulled pork. When I first stumbled onto this recipe for Sweet Pulled Pork Tacos with Avocado Cream Sauce from TK member 4littlefergusons, my heart literally skipped a beat. Pulled pork tacos with an avocado cream sauce? Heck yes! As the self-proclaimed queen of all things avocado I knew that I had to try this recipe immediately.

I whipped up these tacos and avocado sauce for a girls night in a few weeks ago and every single person gobbled them up. There were even leftovers that my fiancé devoured the next day. Basically, here’s the bottom line: you need these tacos in your life asap!

Here’s the drill.

Start with a little bit of your favorite salsa.

You’ll also need some roasted green chiles.

Throw some cooked black beans into a little bowl.

A touch of brown sugar is needed, too! This is what’s going to give the tacos a hint of sweetness.

And lastly, grab some salt.

Throw all the above ingredients into your slow cooker. Give them a good mix to evenly distribute all the flavors.

Cube up a piece of pork butt/shoulder. You can cut off some of the excess fat and then trim the pieces into 1 ½ inch pieces. Add the pork to the slow cooker and turn it on. You can forget about the pork for a few hours while it does its thing. And trust me, it’s going to be delicious.

Now let’s prepare the life-changing avocado cream sauce. Start by slicing up some scallions.

You’re going to need 2 avocados too.

Combine the avocados and scallions in a little mixing bowl.

Add a dollop or two (or three) of sour cream.

Toss in some lime juice and salt.

Add the cilantro.

Mash everything together until you have a creamy consistency and then set the sauce aside. If you are going to be eating in a few hours, cover the sauce with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate it.

Once the pork is done, take a few spoonfuls and place them into a warmed corn tortilla. Throw in a few cherry tomatoes for good measure and then top it with as much avocado cream sauce as you want. Serve it up and prepare to be wowed!

You guys, this dish is kind of-life changing. Like, you should absolutely make it in the next 24 hours. Trust me!

A huge thank you to Tonya from 4 Little Fergusons for sharing such an awesome recipe! This one is absolutely going to the weekly dinner rotation. Happy cooking!

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If you like cilantro, this is the dinner for you! Fresh, easy and oh-so delicious!

Ingredients

FOR THE SWEET PULLED PORK:

2 cupsYour Favorite Salsa

4 ounces, weightCanned Green Chilies

¼ cupsPacked Brown Sugar

15 ounces, weightBlack Beans, Rinsed And Drained

3 poundsPork Shoulder Roast (or Loin Roast Is Fine, Just Pricer)

Kosher Salt

FOR THE AVOCADO CREAM SAUCE:

4 wholeGreen Onions, Sliced

2 wholeAvocados

4 TablespoonsLime Juice

2 TablespoonsSour Cream

¼ cupsSnipped Cilantro

4 clovesMinced Garlic

1 teaspoonKosher Salt

FOR THE TOPPINGS:

Stand And Stuff Taco Shells

Shredded Lettuce

4 wholeGreen Onions, Sliced

Cherry Tomatoes, To Serve

Preparation Instructions

For the pulled pork, in the bottom of a large crock pot, mix salsa, green chilies, brown sugar and black beans. Add the pork roast (salted with Kosher salt) and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. Take the meat out of the crockpot and shred with 2 forks. Return to the pot and mix with the sauce and beans. Leave the lid off as you continue making supper to cook away some of the juices.

To serve, scoop sweet pork into a baked hard shell. Top with a dollop of avocado cream sauce and shredded lettuce and green onions. Serve with cherry tomatoes on the side.

Dig into these fresh, easy, delicious tacos! Yum!

Note: My only complaint was that if I made 2 tacos at the same time, the second taco shell got soggy while it waited. Just an FYI, not a deal breaker!

Recipe credit: Sweet Pulled Pork recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up and Avocado Cream recipe from Ellie Krieger of Food Network. The idea to combine both recipes comes from The Meal Planner, via Laughter and Lattes.

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Gaby Dalkin is the young lady behind What’s Gaby Cooking, a food blog that’s bursting at the seams with incredible recipes and food photography. She’s a personal chef and professional recipe developer, and if you follow her on Twitter, you’ll soon discover her two-fold obsession: guacamole and cheese. She has small feet, a large heart, and a smile that can light up the whole building. We’re pretty stoked to have her here.

If I were to choose only one meal I could have forever it would probably be a salad with all the toppings that I want. This Wedge Salad by Tasty Kitchen member Lindsay was just that: lovely greens topped with crunchy, salty, sweet, creamy goodness.

To make it you will need: blue cheese, bacon, shallots, Greek yogurt, buttermilk, iceberg lettuce (or romaine will also work nicely), red and white wine vinegar (or in my case, sherry vinegar), mayonnaise, cherry tomatoes (I used a big juicy ripe one), and flour. Also, chives would be nice for a garnish if you have them handy.

You’ll start by rendering the bacon in a pan over medium heat, letting all of the fat bubble until the bacon becomes crisp on both sides. Then you’ll remove the bacon to a paper towel and save the fat in the pan.

Next thinly slice your shallots and separate the rings.

Give your lettuce a rinse and pat it dry. Lindsay used a nice wedge of iceberg, but since I happen to love romaine, I just took off the inner leaves and layered them on top of each other. It had a nice crispness the way iceberg would. Go wild with your lettuce I say!

Dice your tomato. A medley of grape or cherry tomatoes would be nice here, simply cut in half. Or if you have a big tomato, give it a nice bite-sized dice.

Toss your shallot rings into a bit of flour.

Get your bacon fat hot again and drop in the shallots to let them fry.

Keep turning them so they cook evenly and are nice and brown.

Add them to the paper towel with the bacon and as they cool, they will crisp up more.

Start dressing the salad! Add the tomatoes, blue cheese, and crumble the bacon in your hands and sprinkle it over the lettuce.

Then add your crispy shallots all over.

Next you’ll make your dressing, which is a lovely dressing to have on hand should you decide to make a larger batch in advance. Start by combining mayonnaise and Greek yogurt.

Then a bit of buttermilk.

Then a sprinkle of blue cheese.

Then your vinegar. Lindsay used red and white wine vinegar but I happen to love this sherry vinegar I had on hand so I threw in a dash of that. Lindsay also added a bit of sugar, which you could do as well if it suits your taste buds. You can play here.

Mix it all up with a spoon and drizzle it onto your salad.

It is creamy and delicious and crunchy and otherworldly.

It’s a perfect meal when you’re dining solo on a summer afternoon. Or any day of the week or time of the year. I would eat this all the time.

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The retro wedge salad is upgraded with a homemade blue cheese dressing and crispy shallots.

Ingredients

FOR THE SALAD:

6 stripsBacon

Oil, For Frying

8 wholeShallots, Sliced Into Rings

¼ cupsFlour

Salt To Taste

1 headIceberg Lettuce, Cut Into Wedges

1 pintGrape Tomatoes, Halved

FOR THE DRESSING:

2 ounces, weightHigh Quality Blue Cheese, Crumbled

¼ cupsPlain Greek Yogurt (light Or Fat Free Is Fine)

¼ cupsPlus 2 Tablespoons Of Low Fat Buttermilk

¼ cupsMayonnaise

1 teaspoonWhite Wine Vinegar

½ teaspoonsRed Wine Vinegar

½ teaspoonsSugar

¼ teaspoonsSalt

Pepper To Taste

1 TablespoonMinced Chives

Preparation Instructions

Fry bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Drain bacon on paper towels. When cool enough to handle, crumble it and set aside.

Add 1 inch of oil to a pan, heat over high heat. Toss the shallot rings with flour until coated. Once the oil is hot, add one shallot to test the temperature, it should start bubbling immediately. If the oil is hot, add the remaining shallots and fry until golden. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Season generously with salt while still warm.

For the dressing, in a small bowl, add the blue cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, mayonnaise and vinegars. Mix until combined. Stir in the sugar, salt, pepper and chives. You can also use store-bought dressing if time is short.

To serve, place a wedge of lettuce on the plate, top with tomatoes, crumbled bacon, blue cheese dressing and crispy shallots.

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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

I love homemade salad dressing, but for some odd reason, never make it! Then, after having dinner at a friend’s house a few weeks ago where I tasted the most delicious homemade dressing that she just whipped up a few minutes before the meal, I got inspired. I was ready.

Good salad dressing really does “make” the salad, plus it’s super easy! I mean, it only takes five minutes, if that! In the time it would take you to find good bottled dressing in the grocery store and make it through the check-out lane, you could have your own homemade dressing already on the table.

So, after eating at my friend’s house, I came home and searched Tasty Kitchen for simple, homemade salad dressings. This Fresh Ginger Dressing by afarmgirlsdabbles immediately caught my eye! It’s absolutely addictive and turns regular ol’ salads into something magical. Try it and taste for yourself!

I told you it’s super easy! All you need to make this dressing is vegetable oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, honey and fresh ginger, of course.

If you don’t like using fresh ginger because it’s a pain to peel, allow me to share with you this little secret a chef I used to work with taught me, and that is using a spoon to peel the ginger! Just lightly scrape the thin skin off with the edge of a spoon and it comes right off. It makes all those crevices much easier to peel. Once you do the spoon trick, you’ll never go back. Trust me on this.

To make the dressing, just put all the ingredients together in a pint-sized jar and shake, shake, shake!

Keep. On. Shaking!

Now you have your own sweet and spicy ginger dressing. It tastes just like the kind from my favorite Thai restaurant in Florida.

The recipe says that this dressing will stay fresh in your fridge for a week in a Mason jar. I’ll definitely be making this all summer long! Thanks for the lovely recipe, Brenda (who shared it from her grandma’s recipe box!). Have you visited her blog A Farm Girl’s Dabbles yet? You must. You simply must.

I bake cookies at least three times a week. Yes, I have an addiction. I don’t eat all of the cookies, but of course I have to sample them. We share cookies with our friends, neighbors, and I like to stick some in the freezer for a rainy day. I have a few go-to […]

Aren’t simple recipes the best? Tasty recipes that call for a few simple ingredients, and very little fuss are the ones I turn to time and time again. They’re easy to remember, usually cost very little, and more often than not, with little to muddle the flavors of the few ingredients involved, they usually […]

One of the joys of late spring and early summer is the abundance of rhubarb at the markets and in my neighbors’ backyards. Okay, those neighbors haven’t actually offered to share their rhubarb with me yet, but perhaps I could bribe them with a couple of rhubarb desserts or, better yet, one of these […]

I love baking cakes for friends’ birthdays. I mean, what’s not to like; it’s a celebration of being given one more year, there’s presents, smiles all around, and cake, of course! Today I present you with a cake I made for no celebration at all—simply the celebration of a random Thursday. I encourage you […]